Watch Your Stern *** (1960, Kenneth Connor, Eric Barker, Leslie Phillips, Joan Sims, Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes) – Classic Movie Review 8344

Director Gerald Thomas’s 1961 British black and white comedy Watch Your Stern stars Kenneth Connor as the extraordinarily incompetent Ordinary Seaman Blissworth, who impresses admiral Sir Humphrey Pettigrew (Noel Purcell) by pretending to be the inventor of a secret lethal new torpedo after he accidentally destroys the original plans.

The script’s jokes are so-so, but the picture is awash with simple slapstick humour tirelessly interpreted by a delightful Carry On crew. Thomas went on to helm the sea-going Carry On Cruising the next year, with Connor starring.

Also in the cast are Eric Barker as Captain David Foster, Leslie Phillips as Lieutenant Commander Bill Fanshawe, Joan Sims as Ann Foster, Sid James (with a Guest Star credit) as Chief Petty Officer Mundy, Hattie Jacques as Agatha Potter, Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Richard Bennett, Michael Brennan, Eric Corrie, Ed Devereaux, Peter Howell, David Lodge, Rory MacDermot, Victor Maddern, Noel Purcell, Robin Ray, George Street, Arch Taylor and Leila Williams.

The screenplay by Alan Hackney and Vivian A Cox is based on Earle Couttie’s play Something about a Sailor.

Watch Your Stern was made at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England.

It is also known as What a Carry On: Watch Your Stern.

Boxer Freddie Mills filmed scenes as a dockyard worker but they were deleted.

Connor was a star at this time, what with this, Carry On Cruising and Nearly a Nasty Accident (1961). He appeared in the first and last authentic Carry On films (Carry on Sergeant (1958) and Carry on Emmannuelle (1978)) and was one of the regulars. He later found a niche as the undertaker Monsieur Alfonse in the much loved Gorden Kaye TV series ‘Allo ‘Allo! (1984-1992).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8344

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com